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Old Warhorse Is Having Trouble Finding His Stride

Jaromir Jagr (68) has no points in the Devils’ first two games, and he was on the ice for two Islanders goals on Friday night.Credit
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

NEWARK — Like most everything in his career, Jaromir Jagr’s three-week tenure with the Devils has been eventful.

Jagr, a forward from the Czech Republic, has more goals (681) and points (1,688) than any other active N.H.L. player despite spending four full seasons playing for Avangard Omsk of the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League. In a twist of hockey fate, Jagr signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Devils during the off-season to help lift their offense after Ilya Kovalchuk’s abrupt departure for the K.H.L.

Jagr has made his name in North America with some of the Devils’ staunchest rivals. He has 89 regular-season points in 99 career games against the Devils and has met them in the postseason as a member of the Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I love the game, so I want to keep playing,” Jagr said at the outset of training camp. “I played a lot of games against Devils. I don’t even know how many times I’ve played Devils in playoffs. It was always tough to score. They always had good defense.”

Jagr, 41, is coming off the second-longest season of his professional career — only his rookie campaign in 1990-91, when he played 104 games (including 24 playoff games), lasted longer than the 101 games Jagr played last season. Jagr played 34 games with Kladno, the Czech Extraliga franchise, during last season’s N.H.L. lockout, followed by 45 regular-season games split between the Dallas Stars and the Boston Bruins. He also played in every one of the Bruins’ 22 postseason games.

Although he proclaimed on check-in day that he had lost 10 pounds during the off-season, he also admitted that the short summer would have an adverse affect on him.

“I didn’t have much time to break,” Jagr said. “I didn’t practice in the off-season how I wanted to.” He added that his chief thought about camp was “don’t get hurt.”

Ten minutes into the Devils’ first practice, Jagr left the ice and did not return. The initial word was “soreness,” which later became a lower-body injury. Jagr did not skate for nine days and did not play in any of the Devils’ six exhibition games.

That did not seem to faze the Devils. Coach Pete DeBoer, who said during training camp that Jagr had “played a lot of games” over the years, named Jagr to the opening-night roster. But in the Devils’ first two regular-season games, Jagr looked like a star past his prime.

He failed to register a point and was booed lustily every time he touched the puck in Pittsburgh in the Devils’ opener on Thursday — a 3-0 loss to the Penguins. On Friday, Jagr was on the ice for the Islanders’ first two goals in the Devils’ home opener, a 4-3 shootout loss.

With the Devils ahead, 1-0, midway through the first period, Jagr was caught on the wrong side of the ice and allowed Michael Grabner to break in alone and score. Jagr would have been responsible for another goal at the first intermission if not for a sprawling save by goalie Martin Brodeur on Colin McDonald.

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In the game against Pittsburgh, Jagr was on the Devils’ No. 2 line with Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique. One night later, Jagr started out alongside Patrik Elias and Ryane Clowe against the Islanders. He was further dropped midgame, spending time with the checking-line forwards Stephen Gionta and Ryan Carter.

Playing in Jagr’s place, Damien Brunner recorded his first two goals as a Devil on Friday, with Clowe having the primary assist on Brunner’s game-tying third-period goal.

Jagr played only 14 minutes 30 seconds, and just three third-period shifts, one of which came on the Devils’ power play, as well as two shifts in overtime. Evgeni Nabokov stymied Jagr in his one shootout opportunity in the sixth round. After the game, Jagr did not speak with reporters.

“It’s tough,” DeBoer said after Friday night’s loss. “He didn’t play any exhibition games, he missed all of training camp. He gave us some strong shifts in the overtime and down the stretch.”

While he is not the same player who won five Art Ross trophies as the league’s leading point scorer and who was selected for nine All-Star teams, Jagr showed flashes of brilliance Friday. He still glides smoothly and strongly on his skates and still commands a defender when he has the puck. He nearly picked up his first point in the first period Friday, setting up Clowe at the goal mouth, but Clowe’s shot hit the post.

It could be a mistake to count him out. Jagr played an integral role in helping Boston win the Eastern Conference just four months ago, although he scored no goals in the playoffs. The Devils have a keen awareness of what they will get simply from having him in the dressing room.

“He’s a quality hockey player, even at his age,” said Brodeur, who is also 41. “He’s not just a superstar, he’s one of the best players to play the game in my book, in my era.”

Brodeur added, “For the guys, even in the middle of their careers, to play with a guy like that, it’s like bringing in Wayne Gretzky; it’s like bringing in Mario Lemieux.”

Pittsburgh selected Jagr 15 picks ahead of Brodeur in the first round of the 1990 N.H.L. entry draft, and Brodeur cites an extra benefit from Jagr’s presence.

“I’m not the oldest guy on the team anymore,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on October 7, 2013, on Page D8 of the New York edition with the headline: Old Warhorse Is Having Trouble Finding His Stride. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe